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Dimock, Pennsylvania, is back in the news this week as a federal trial, involving two families that have claimed Cabot Oil and Gas is responsible for water problems since 2008, gets underway. But as EID has noted on many occasions, the case in Dimock has long been put to rest as it was determined that fracking was not to blame and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) found in 2012 that the water there was safe.

With the trial beginning this week, it’s worth re-visiting what’s occurred in Dimock over the last six years to make sure that folks have the facts. This will be the first post in a series on Dimock that EID will be producing as the trial continues over the next few weeks.

Fact #1: The families suing Cabot apparently had water problems before drilling ever occurred

According to the Scranton Times-Tribune, during opening remarks Tuesday, Cabot’s attorney, Stephen Dillard, said,

“…evidence will show Mr. Ely reported problems with the water started in August of 2008 — one or two months before Cabot began drilling the wells in question. Equally important, he said, is that the contamination of the Elys and Huberts wells continues today, despite the fact Cabot shut down the gas wells in 2010.” (emphasis added)

If this is in fact accurate, then the plaintiffs’ issues would pre-date any natural gas development from Cabot. This wouldn’t be surprising given the historic water conditions in Susquehanna County, where Dimock is located, in part due to there being “no statewide construction or siting standards for private water wells.” In fact, just last year, View Full Article